The last 5 days have been pretty much a summary of my current life in reference to my relationships, with the possible exception of my friends I talk to via the telephone who live away from Massachusetts.

Friday for lunch I met with a group of guys I meet up with every Friday at noon at the Finders Pub. We talked about marriage and why Billy was scared of it and about how our weeks were good or bad and how we could change them.

Friday after work Carie and I spent our date night double dating with our neighbors across the street.   We had a blast chatting and enjoying the company of a great couple we’re getting to know better.

Saturday we volunteered our time to help an incredible cause and some incredible friends who lead that cause.  Hearts for Heat held an awards/volunteer appreciation dinner and I was able to speak and help clean up afterward.

Saturday night was spent talking to my dad for an hour or so, watching Michigan football, and studying for Sundays message.  You can download the talk (and any of my Sunday messages) here.

Sunday morning @ Fellowship was awesome as I was able to serve our church community, fellowship with great friends, and hang out with a group of new college students in our church.

After a sweet nap, Sunday evening served as date night for Carie and I, and we had a great time “dating”.  Lots of great conversation, playing “Lost Cities”, and watching “No Country for Old men” (definitely not a date movie)  brought on a great time together, which was good because Monday we wouldn’t be seeing much of each other.

On Monday after work, my basketball team came together again to play in our Rutland league.  We didn’t win, but I love playing basketball with those guys.  They are such a good group of guys, and it was really fun seeing them again.  After the game, I stopped by a friend ‘s house who was watching the Pats/Bills game on his patio with his sons.  We talked and watched and enjoyed MNF on the patio.

This morning, after a whopping 4.5 hours of sleep and continued soreness as I jumped out of bed, I drove to the Y, where I played some more basketball with more guys who I love to play with every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I’m paying for it now, but I love being able to play ball and spend time with this group of guys.

I tell you all this because about 3 years ago I felt like I didn’t really have very many real relationships.  I talked to a lot of people on Sundays but during the week it seemed like I had fallen into some sort of relational slump brought on by laziness and complacency.   I then made a conscious effort to take myself out of my comfort zone and do some things that I hadn’t done in a while because I was comfortable and my life was good – things like meet new people and exercise and pour into my already existing relationships and yes, even walk away from others if they were in any way pulling me down.

So today I sit here in a local coffeeshop, soaking in the current silence of the atmosphere, not talking to anyone, and thanking God for the people He’s putting into my life…

and the people He’s going to put into my life.

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The following is a story.  A tale of my last 5 days and unfortunately, nights.  I’ll start with the end and the moral.

Moral:  Support causes like Hearts for Heat!

Last night Carie and I heard it.  We heard the sound we’d been waiting for.  The clank in the cellar that let us know he arrived.  Could it be?  Actual tears of happiness jumped out of Carie’s eyes, for which I was happy to be there to be able to wipe them away, then laugh with her.  Some more clanking gave more proof that he had indeed arrived and that everything would be fine in only a few more moments.

You see, about 5 days before, the furnace guy, who we’ve used the last several years, came to do a routine maintenance on the church furnaces and also on ours.  But when he got to ours, he cited several problems, not the least of which was something lodged in the chimney that would require a specialist to come in and take care of it.  He said he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he left the furnaces on, knowing that if he did, we may never wake up.

Ummmm, thanks for the heads up.

The unfortunate part is that this was the first night of a string of several freezing temperature evenings in Central Massachusetts.  So he would now sleep, but I would not, save for our entire wardrobe draped over my body, complete with all the blankets we could muster.  Oh yeah, and…

That also meant no hot water.  FOR FIVE DAYS!  No showers (at the house), No hot water for dishes, and hot water laundering was out of the question.  So we worked hard on finding this so-called specialist who could do the job.  The all evasive chimney sweep person.

I called on Sunday…no answer.  Then I called 7 people on Monday…1 answer.  They’d be arriving tomorrow (Tuesday morning, 7:30).  Carie and I were thrilled, because Carie was already feeling under the weather due to a cold she had caught.  A feeling of relief came on us, until the next morning…

The all-evasive chimney sweep person called me and said his truck had broke down, and that he would be arriving later in the afternoon, about 5:30 pm.   Uuugh!  No problem, but do you know my house feels like an ice cold prison?

For those of you who will speak of space heaters, please don’t.  This is another long story.

4:00 pm rolls around and I get a call from the All Evasive chimney sweep person from West Boylston and I was ecstatic because my assumption was that he was going to arrive at our house early.  He called to tell me he wasn’t going to be able to come today, maybe tomorrow at 8:00 am.  “Yeah” I thought, “And maybe you will go out of business because of your lack of dependability.”  At this point, I could have cried.

Quickly I made some phone calls and found another company about 30 minutes farther away than the All evasive chimney sweep person in West Boylston, and they said they would absolutely be there at 2:00 pm tomorrow (Wednesday).  I told them I loved them, and I’m sure they thought I was crazy.

The next morning rolled around, and guess who didn’t show up?  I wish I could remember the name of the company, but alas, I have blocked it out of my mind and computer.  A friend of mine who was actually following the action via phone calls and texts sent me a text that said:

Friends text:  They show up?
Marty’s text:  Nope.
Friends text:  Bastards!

I’m ashamed to admit that I echoed the sentiments, but I echoed the sentiments.

But not to worry, because this company came just as they said they would.  Country Corner Chimney sweeps hooked us up in a big way!  So then I immediately called our furnace guy, who announced he would be over in a few hours.  I trusted him.  He’d been there all along.  the only thing he didn’t do for us during the 5 days was turn on the furnace, which would have been nice for a while, but I would have much rather woke up the next morning.

After work, I walked to meet Carie at home and we talked for a while and had some mac and cheese, then sat on the couch and enjoyed a cold afternoon under blankets, totally expecting something to happen to the furnace guy as he was on his way to our house.  We prayed, and then we heard him – The furnace guy!

I took a long shower last night!

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Today is Blog Action Day 08.

Bloggers are coming together to work towards diminishing the problem of poverty.

One organization I support and for which I regularly volunteer is Hearts For Heat, a local ministry with the mission of getting heat to those in need.  This is an important ministry this winter as most of new England uses oil to heat their homes and with price so high, most people would burn pieces of their homes if they needed to.

Whether it’s Hearts for Heat or another organization that is helping those in need of food, clothing, or other necessities, my prayer is that all of us are doing something to get rid of this problem.  One question I ask myself:

Can I do more?

From Flowerdust.net who quotes from francis chan

“in crazy love, francis chan writes

lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling guilty. they want to do the bare minimum to be “good enough” without it requiring much of them…they ask, “how much do i have to give?” instead of “how much can i give?””

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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, it’s time for the Sunday morning recap at Fellowship Church.  Billy already gave his here.  Here are some thoughts I had about my weekend at Fellowship Church.

*I attended a benefit dinner for Hearts for Heat this weekend.  Hearts for Heat is a ministry of Fellowship Church, and is doing an amazing job of providing oil for people in Worcester County.
*I ate with Massachusetts State Rep. Lew Evangelidis at the dinner.  Turns out he plays in my basketball league.  We haven’t played against one another yet, but when we do…
*Saturday we helped the Dancy’s move into Holden.  The team is coming together and the future of FC looks great!
*After that, I was sore.
*It’s amazing how when things fall apart, like in music practice or whatever, that God comes through and gets us past it.
*We are only a few weeks away from our Easter service, where we’ll all find out how to vote.  Should be a great service.
*Billy made some hilarious confessional videos for the service yesterday.  There was a lot of laughter, specifically at the last one when he was jamming out to Feist.
*Totally psyched about the guitar hero championships next Saturday at “The FC.”  Played for the first time in 2 months yesterday against Carie.  Gonna need to practice this week.
*I confessed that there are times I don’t think I can do the thing God has called me to do.
*Yes, I really did fail my broadcasting platform, and yes, then I did graduate with a real degree after working my tail off on learning how to talk.
*Yes, this was Moses’ problem too.
*No, I don’t doubt that I made the right decision to stay at Fellowship. 
*Were you inspired to find out what God’s vision is for your life?
*I love Fellowship Church in Holden!
*Have a basketball game tonight.  Pray for me that I don’t injure myself, and that some state rep for Mass. doesn’t injure me in any great way.
*My dad just called me and told me that his attendance at church yesterday was 800!  Go Hillcrest!

How are you doing?  Anything I can do for you?

Until next time…

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